Bert Swope
While a romance novel has 50,000 – 90,000 words, it is possible to write a longer book that still fits within the genre’s word limit. Some sub-genres are longer, like historical or epic romances, and there are even shorter sub-genres that have a high word count. Regardless of genre, however, the length of a book is important to meet the needs of the mainstream publisher.
The length of a romance novel depends on its genre. A true genre romance typically falls between 50,000 and 60,000 words. A romance novel can be longer or shorter, but you should aim for at least 75,000 words. The average length of a mystery or sci-fi novel is around 50,000 – 150,000 words. A typical first-time author will need to write about half of this amount, and the second half will be much longer.
The length of a literary novel depends on its genre. Most of the time, a mystery or thriller is longer than a romance novel, so the word count can be lower. A contemporary fantasy novel should be about 80,000 words but typically fall in the range of 50,000 – 150,000. The average length of a romance novel is between fifty and ninety thousand words. A short story should be between one thousand and five hundred words, but it should not be more than a few hundred.
Yung-Adult (YA) novels tend to be shorter, with an average of 60,000 – 90,000 words. These novels are often shorter than their older counterparts, which means they’ll have shorter, more concise books. As a general rule, a YA novel will be under 70,000 words. A true genre romance can be anywhere from fifty to eighty thousand words. For a first-time author, stay around that ideal word count for the first book.
YA novels, on the other hand, tend to be longer. They target younger readers and are generally shorter than romance novels. Depending on the genre and audience, a YA novel should be around 50,000 to 70,000 words. The average length of a YA novel will depend on the genre. A YA romance novel should be between 50K and seventy thousand words long. It is common to find subgenres within the romance genre.
As a rule, a romance novel should be under 80,000 words. Writing a romance novel with a word count less than that would be a wasted opportunity for the writer. If your goal is to break the rules, start by researching the genre you’re interested in. An average romance novel will have fewer than 40,000 words. A middle-grade romance, on the other hand, is typically between 20,000 and 80,000 words.
Fictional novels have a longer word count than most nonfiction works. In general, a literary romance novel should be no more than seventy thousand words. It is possible to write a romantic novel that is over ten thousand words. Unlike a romance novel, a fantasy or science fiction story is typically much shorter than a traditional literary novel. The length of a historical romance novel can range from two to four million words.
There are a few factors that affect the length of a romance novel. While it is generally shorter than fiction novels, a paranormal romance should be over 40,000 words. A good way to determine the average romance novel word length is to research the genre you’re interested in. A popular book with a high word count is one that has a broad readership. Choosing a genre that you’re interested in will make the process easier and less stressful.
A romance novel should be between sixty and one hundred and fifty thousand words. A biography should be at least 70,000 words. It should be longer than a nonfiction book. A crime novel will be longer than a romance novel. Biographies can be as short as four thousand words and can have more or less. If the length of a mystery book is too long, it will be too short.
Here is a quick reference list of book length ranges by Genre:
- Contemporary Novel – 60,000 – 90,000
- Dystopian Novel – 60,000 -120,000
- Fantasy Novel – 50,000 – 150,000
- Horror Novel – 40,000 – 80,000
- Memoir – 45,000 to 80,000
- Middle-Grade Book – 20,000 – 55,000
- Mystery Novel – 40,000 – 80,000
- Romance Novel – 50,000 – 90,000
- Sci-fi Novel – 50,000 – 150,000
- Self-Help Book – 30,000 – 70,000
- Young Adult Book – 60,000 – 90,000